Sunday, March 21, 2010

I just love Read, Write, Think! Have I ever mentioned that??? Here's an interactive to use for making comics. Just click right here! It even starts off with a giggle. Try it and let me know what you think.

Poetry Splatter is simple to use. First you choose a poem title from the list. When the poem opens, you will have to fill in the blanks with words that are splattered onto the screen. All age groups are included.

Acrostic Poem is from Read, Write, Think. Keep in mind that you have to complete this in one sitting. You are not given the option to save but you may print it. Looks like there will be space for students to draw a picture after it is printed.

Diamante Poem is also from Read, Write, Think. Same info as above pertains to this interactive.

Another resource from Read, Write, Think is Shape Poem. Use this link here for tips and more information about how to use the Shape Poem interactive.

Off the Charts is a neat site from PBS. It allows you to write a poem and turn it into a song. PBS provides the music. Looks like fun to me!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Grade 6-8 have finished the WestTest On-Line writing. Please keep writing with the students though! Have a little fun with poetry now and head over to these two sites to help you and your students write poems.

Don't forget that WestTest Language always has a lengthy poem for students to read and then questions about the selection. Students have difficulty understanding poetry and a little review within the classroom will go a long way to helping them on their tests. Here are several sites to find poems to use.

She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,She wore her greenest gown;She turned to the south windAnd curtsied up and down.She turned to the sunlightAnd shook her yellow head,And whispered to her neighbour:"Winter is dead."

I found this poem at DLTK. You can follow the link by clicking on DLTK. Go to Spring on the left side and scroll down to the poetry section. When you find this partciular poem, you may listen to it and print out a coloring sheet. Some of the other poems have activity sheets to go with them.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Watch this neat Prezi about tips for using Google. Just click on the screen or the forward button to move from area to area. Prezi, by the way, is a presentation tool that has the world buzzing. It may replace PowerPoint!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

This is one amazing young lady. I attended a webcast on Saturday and she presented 20 Web 2.0 tools she thinks every teacher should use. It was outstanding! Yes...I know, another youTube video that you have to watch at home. Honestly, it is worth the 5 minutes of your weekend or evening!

Try out this new search engine just for students. I learned about this last weekend and have only just started using it. I attended a webinar and the creator of this site was the presenter. He is working hard to assure that the site is safe for students. Try it out. I think you'll like it too. I am adding this site to the student weebly sites so they can use it directly from those locations.

In addition to the search engine, you'll also find biographies on the SweetSearch ste. Just scroll down slightly and click on the Sweet Search Biographies. Consider using this site when you have your students write biographies. There is advice on writing them included. When you go to the Sweet Search Biography site, look to the right for the Happy Birthday section. Each day they post an article about someone who was born on that day in history. Now look to the right on this blog and see the findingDulcinea widget where you will also see the birthday articles. This widget does have ads but you can click the x to close most of them. Be careful when you scroll to read the article. Right at the bottom, you will find another ad. To avoid this ad, I have to pay a subscription to the widget company OR you can just slide the bar down to see more of the article.